I know it has been some time since we updated the main branch, and there is a good reason for it: Multiplayer.

Yes, that's right, in case you have not been following things on the forums or the development build, Take On Mars now features multiplayer. At the moment this includes a cooperative mode where players can build bases and vehicles together.

As I am sure many questions will come up surrounding this, I'll try to answer a few straight away:

Q) What is currently possible in multiplayer?A: Everything that is possible in single player with the Mars Astronaut. That includes the following:
* Building habitats from individual pieces
* Printing building pieces and vehicles via the 3D Printer
* Mining materials from the location, however the materials themselves are not used yet
* Driving vehicles, including with friends
* Full physics simulation over the net
* Having fun!

Q) Who can start a server?A: Anyone can start a server, simply select Multiplayer in the main menu and select Create Game. There, choose a scenario and begin! In case you are wondering who will be able to see your server, the answer is anyone!

Q) I built an awesome base with a friend, but don't want to lose it, can we save the game somehow?A: Yes, the multiplayer implementation features a unique saving system. Connected players may vote for a save or the server may initiate a save directly. The server saves the game to his hard drive and sends the save file to all connected players. This means that any one of those players may then re-host that save in their own server.

Q) Are our characters and their last known positions stored in the save?A: Yes, each player that joins has his character stored exactly where he left it. This can be on a hill, in a base, or falling off a cliff. In all situations, the character is stored with his health and everything intact. We will be adding an inventory soon, so the storage of your items will also be guaranteed.

Q) When can we load a saved game?A: When you start to host a server you can select to start the server from stored save games on your hard disk. Information about the save is displayed when you select it. Once you start the server anew or from a save, you can load the game at any time via player vote or directly by the server. The interruption in play is very short.

Q) Will future builds render my save incompatible?A: No, the save files have been written to save in a format which ensures compatibility between builds. They are in fact stored almost identically to a scenario file.

Q) Take On Mars has very detailed physics simulation... Is that present in multiplayer?A: Yes, everything in multiplayer and single player is fully physically simulated, which includes vehicles, characters and so on. Yes, this does mean vehicles can be smashed in multiplayer :)

Q) Did you say save similar to a scenario? Does that mean we could adjust a save into a scenario?A: Yes, a save is similar to a scenario, so with some minor editing a scenario may be derived from the save. We intend to add an option to Export Save To Scenario soon.

Q) It crashed... What do I do with the crash info?A: If you started in Developer mode (the yellow Play Game button in the loader), then it could help us track down the bug. When you see the crash window appear, press Ctrl + C and then paste it into a new thread or post on the forums, along with as detailed as possible set of steps as to how the crash occurred. We do not expect you to test the game for us of course, but will appreciate feedback and bug reports :)

Q) What can I expect in the next update?A: Survival elements, including oxygen simulation, using mined resources to fill habitats with air, a flatbed-truck-like vehicle for transporting larger cargoes, and an inventory for objects such as soil samples, food and water, etc.

Q) When can we expect another update?A: I am heading on a 3 week vacation as of the 30th of August and will return on the 18th of September, so expect full-speed development to continue then, with an update following within two weeks.

Q) Just tried the multiplayer, love it! How can I help?A: Thank you! We always appreciate when our games are enjoyed :) You can help us by giving us feedback, posting screenshots, sharing videos and spreading the word if you like it!

Q) I recall the expected release date being at the end of August... Is this still true?A: In short, no. We have pushed the final release date back to allow for proper and full implementation of the multiplayer features as well as the entire Expedition One addition, both in terms of single player (Space Program) and multiplayer (survival elements, base management, additional game modes, etc). This is good news as you get highly refined content, and more of it!

Q) What has changed in the game? Any chance of a change log?A: There is a change log directly accessible through the main menu, top right corner as Change Log. Alternatively, check here: mars.takeonthegame.com/changelog/mainbranch

Q) I'm enjoying the game, but want to finish my in-progress Space Program. Can I go back to a previous build?A: Yes, we have added a build titled 'Legacy', which is the previous Main Branch build. Switch to this if you want to continue using the older build for now. To switch to the build, select Take On Mars in your steam library, right-click, select Properties. Switch to the BETAS tab, and select 'Legacy' in the list, ignoring password input.

Q) Sounds great... Screenshots or it didn't happen!!!A: Of course, screenshots are mandatory :) There have been plenty released over the past few weeks as we have been testing the builds. Here are some highlights:

We really hope you enjoy the newest update! Please keep in mind this is an Early Access game, and bugs are to be expected. We are sorting them as fast as we can, and apologize for frustration some bugs may cause!

To resupply the first people on Mars, Bohemia Interactive today released a major content update for the Expedition One campaign of Take On Mars – the studio’s new space simulation game. The update delivers a manned scout buggy, mobile laboratory, an improved 3D printer, and many general fixes and improvements to the core game. The full changelog of the latest update is available at http://mars.takeonthegame.com/changelog.

Expedition One, which serves as the second part of Take On Mars’ Space Program campaign, provides players with the opportunity to take part in the first manned mission to the Red Planet. After they arrive on Mars, they will need to perform a multitude of scientific experiments, construct habitats spanning from shelters to entire installations, and search for viable sources of oxygen, water, and raw materials. Due to the limited amount of supplies the space shuttle can carry, one of the most significant challenges for the marsonauts will simply be surviving the harsh Martian environment. This means that participants will have to actively manage their oxygen levels, food stocks, grow plants, and operate drilling rigs in the search for new resources. Unpressurized and pressurized manned vehicles will be at their disposal to increase their mobility across the vast alien terrain.

To enlist for the Expedition One mission, people can sign up for Take On Mars’ Early Access program on Steam, where the game is temporarily available with a 15% Summer Sale discount (11.89 EUR/ 15.29 USD/ 10.19 GBP).

Bohemia Interactive, the creators of the award-winning Arma™ series and DayZ™, today released the first portion of their Expedition One content update for Take On™ Mars. Serving as the codename for Take On Mars’ manned mission to Mars, Expedition One enables people to explore the Red Planet, and establish a self-sufficient human habitat.

Today’s update lands the first human marsonauts to Take On Mars. With access to a manned science buggy, featuring an interactive 3D GUI, one of their first objectives will be to explore the huge new Cydonia Mensae location, which spans 8x8 kilometer of Martian terrain. A 3D printer enables marsonauts to construct various parts, which can be put together via the Habitat Construction System to form buildings and installations (changelog[mars.takeonthegame.com]).

The next portion of Take On Mars’ Expedition One content update will include resource extraction/transfer, habitat pressurization, and marsonaut vitals - and is scheduled for release in May 2014.

[www.bistudio.com][www.bistudio.com][www.bistudio.com]

For those who are new to Bohemia Interactive’s manned mission to Mars; Expedition One brings players to Mars to perform a multitude of scientific experiments, construct habitats spanning from shelters to entire installations, and search for viable sources of oxygen, water, and raw materials. Due to the limited amount of supplies the space shuttle can carry, one of the most significant challenges for the marsonauts will simply be surviving the harsh Martian environment. As such, participants will have to actively manage their oxygen levels, food stocks, grow plants, and operate drilling rigs in the search for new resources. Unpressurized and pressurized manned vehicles will be at their disposal to increase their mobility across the vast alien terrain.

To enroll for the manned mission, people can now join for the Early Access version of Take On Mars on Steam for the reduced price of 13.99 EUR/ 17.99 USD/ 11.99 GBP.

Take On Mars was officially announced at E3 2013, where it won IGN’s Best New PC Game award. For more information on Take On Mars, please visit http://mars.takeonthegame.com/ and/or follow Take On Mars on Twitter and Facebook.

Bohemia Interactive, an award-winning video games developer based in the Czech Republic, today announce their plan to launch the first ever manned mission to Mars. The project, which uses 'Expedition One' as its working title, is part of the studio’s effort to explore the red planet and – ultimately – establish a human colony on Mars. While the first space shuttle is scheduled to depart as early as April this year, Bohemia Interactive is still actively recruiting for people to join its marsonauts training program.

[www.bistudio.com][www.bistudio.com]

Expedition One, a content update for Bohemia Interactive’s new sim game Take On™ Mars, enables volunteers to explore Mars from the most intimate of perspectives; through their own eyes. Participants will be tasked with performing a multitude of scientific experiments, constructing habitats spanning from shelters to entire installations, and searching for viable sources of oxygen, water, and raw materials. Due to the limited amount of supplies the space shuttle can carry, one of the most significant challenges for the marsonauts will simply be surviving the harsh Martian environment. As such, participants will have to actively manage their oxygen levels, food stocks, grow plants, and operate drilling rigs in the search for new resources. Unpressurized and pressurized manned vehicles will be at their disposal to increase their mobility across the vast alien terrain.

[www.bistudio.com][www.bistudio.com]

"As a studio, we've always been obsessed with games that explore topics of human fascination", said Bohemia Interactive's CEO, Marek Spanel. "One of those is space exploration. Missions to Mars - from the past, present, and also some ambitious projects for the future - sparked our imagination about what it would be like to be the first human on Mars. We soon felt that this should be the endgame for the Take On Mars campaign."

With the arrival of the Expedition One content update, the campaign in Take On Mars will be divided into two chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the exploration of Mars via the Mars Rovers and Stationary Landers, while Chapter 2 is entirely dedicated to human exploration of the red planet. Those who would wish to embark on this exciting adventure right away will be able to skip the first chapter. However, this does mean that they will start out with fewer resources than those who completed part one of Take On Mars' Space Program campaign.

Highlights of the Expedition One mission include:

Take the next giant leap for mankind and leave the first human footprints on the surface of Mars

Build your own habitat spanning from shelters to entire installations via a unique construction system

Live off the land by managing and extracting resources to build your base and keep you alive

Establish the foundations of a human colony on the surface of another planet

Expedition One will be made available in the second quarter of 2014. To enroll for the manned mission, people can join Take On Mars’ Early Access program on Steam for the reduced price of 13.99 EUR/ 17.99 USD/ 11.99 GBP.

Take On Mars was officially announced at E3 2013, where it won IGN’s Best New PC Game award. For more information on Take On Mars, please visit http://mars.takeonthegame.com/ and/or follow Take On Mars on Twitter and Facebook[confluence.bistudio.com].

In support of last week’s Workbench update[www.bistudio.com], today we launched a series of mod-making video tutorials for Take On™ Mars. Titled ‘Mars Mod-Maker's Manual (M4)’, the video series aims to help people get started with creating additional or new content for Take On Mars, using the game’s Workbench editing suite. The first chapter - Data Structure & Modifications – kicks off with an explanation of where Take On Mars looks for its data, and how it can be modified.

The fact that Take On Mars itself started as a mod for Carrier Command: Gaea Mission explains a lot about the dedication of this team to modding and user content creation. While we’re still adding new content to the game ourselves, with a really cool announcement coming up next week, we’re looking forward to see how other people experiment with the tools used to develop Take On Mars. The Mars Mod-Maker's Manual (M4) should form an excellent starting point.

More chapters in the ‘Mars Mod-Making Manual’ series will be released over the course of the next few months – starting with the second chapter about addons, mods and total conversions.